National Family Caregivers Month Honors and
Celebrates Family Caregivers
This November, organizations across the United States will celebrate and recognize family caregivers during the annual National Family Caregiver Month. With over 50 million family caregivers across the U.S., the number of people who chose to care for their loved ones themselves, versus placing them in a nursing or care facility, is growing rapidly.
This year NFC Month has adopted the theme The Caring Every Day Campaign and offers three steps family caregivers can take every day to make their lives better and improve the care they give their loved ones:
BELIEVE in Yourself.
PROTECT Your Health.
REACH OUT for Help.
To help family caregivers reach out for help and in support of patient and caregiver health and safety, the National Private Duty Association (NPDA) - an endorsing organization of NFC Month - is providing support and resources to assist family caregivers with providing quality and educated care.
In order to avoid caregiver burnout and provide quality care, it sometimes becomes necessary for family caregivers to seek out respite or supplemental care from a professional caregiver. Unfortunately, because the private duty home care industry remains unregulated in most states, the quality of care between professional providers can vary greatly. This leaves patients and family caregivers vulnerable to fraud, abuse or financial pitfalls. With a little knowledge about the differences in models of home care and what that means for the client, family caregivers who need extra support can rest assured that they are choosing safe, reliable and trustworthy help.
Understanding Models of Private Duty Home Care
Most private duty providers fall into one of two categories: a registry that uses independent contractors (also known as a referral service or a nursing registry) or a private duty agency. The differences in these two models of home care can have important consequences for the consumer legally, financially and even physically. The key difference comes down to the issue of who employs the caregiver.
Registries act as "matchmaker" services, assigning independent contractors to clients who need home care by matching the client with a care worker from the list of workers registered with them. The worker is never hired by the registry as an employee; instead the registry serves as a middle man to match an independent worker to a person who is seeking home care services.
Since registries and companies who place private personnel do not actually employ their care providers, they don't assume the same responsibility for the worker as someone employing a caregiver. Instead, when a client hires an independent home care provider, the client becomes the legal employer of the caregiver. This means that the client is liable for things such as workers compensation, unemployment taxes and social security. Additionally, since the home care worker is a contract worker, the company who helped place them cannot manage them and in some cases does not perform background checks on the worker. This puts the consumer at risk for abuse and fraud without any legal protection from an agency.
Private duty agencies, however, employ their workers and take full responsibility for the supervision and training of those workers. Agency caregivers are bonded, insured and if need be, licensed. The agency also does the accounting and bookwork, provides the supervision and discipline, carries the insurance and tries to ensure that all shifts are covered.
For More Information
For more information about National Family Caregivers month visit the National Family Caregivers Association Web site: www.thefamilycaregiver.org or call 800/896-3650.
To learn more about the differences between the types of professional caregivers and finding respite or supplemental care in your area, visit the National Private Duty Association Web site: www.privatedutyhomecare.org.
Private Duty Check List
When seeking home care, there are some important questions that clients should ask of a prospective service provider:
Who employs the caregiver?
How long has the agency been providing private duty home care?
Is there a care professional, who, along with the client and family, develops an individualized plan of care?
How are emergencies handled after normal business hours?
How often are caregiver services monitored?
Does the agency employ a full time nurse, social worker or other qualified professional to make regular visits to the client's home?
How does the agency screen and select caregivers prior to an assignment?
Are references checked and criminal background and drug screens conducted on all employees?
Does the agency manage all payroll and employee related matters and adhere to state and federal guidelines in its employment practices, such as: withholding appropriate taxes, providing workers' compensation and other benefits?
Do they also use independent contractors? If so, who employs the person and pays the mandated taxes and with holdings in this case?